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WASHINGTON — The number of Afghan national-security troops killed in combat shot up almost 80
percent during this summer’s fighting season, compared with the same time in 2012, as Afghans have
taken the lead in the fight across the country.

A Pentagon report said that U.S. and coalition deaths, meanwhile, dropped by almost 60 percent
during the same six-month period.

The Defense Department refused to release numbers to explain the percentages, but U.S. military
leaders have said that the number of Afghans killed each week had spiked to more than 100 earlier
this year.

The high number of casualties and the Afghans’ limited ability to evacuate their wounded, “
adversely affects morale, retention and recruiting,” according to the report, which the Defense
Department released yesterday.

A senior U.S. military official, when asked about the casualty rate, said late last month that
as the fighting season begins to wind down, the Afghan deaths have started to decline. In one
recent week, about 50 were killed in action, the official said.

The Pentagon report covers the time period from April 1 to Sept. 30, before snow and cold
temperatures began to make travel difficult.

The drop in U.S. and coalition casualties reflects the Afghans’ increased role taking the lead
of combat operations as well as the ongoing decrease in the number of international forces in the
country. As of this week, there are about 48,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, down from a peak of
slightly more than 100,000 in 2010.

According to the report, Afghan forces now conduct

95 percent of conventional operations and 98 percent of special operations in Afghanistan.
Coalition forces continue to provide training and assistance but are still needed for air support,
security, route clearance for roadside bombs, air lift for wounded or dead troops, and
counterterror operations.

Under the current plan, coalition combat forces will leave Afghanistan at the end of next year.
Negotiations between the U.S. and the Afghan government are continuing to determine whether a small
U.S. force will remain after 2014.

U.S. and coalition officials have outlined plans to leave 8,000 to 12,000 troops there to train
the Afghans, but any decision depends on whether the two sides can finalize a security
agreement.